“The Paradox of American Power”

Not since Rome has one nation loomed so large above the others Joseph Nye Jr (2002 ) begins in his book The Paradox of American Power ' He argues that the United States , through a mixture of what he calls hard power ' and soft power ' has become the one supreme power (or hyperpower ) in the world , and will be so well into this century . In this , Nye 's expositions of the nature and milieu of U .S . power will be discussed

Hard power and soft power

Nye 's conception of hard power ' is perhaps

what the more conventional conception of power is . Hard power , according to Nye (2002 , consists of resources (including military and economic ) that one can use to bring about change in the position of others , either by prospects of reward ( carrots ) or by threat ( sticks (p . 8 . Because most countries are not postindustrial , many are still very dependent on hard power (p 12

One the other hand , soft power ' as Nye conceives it , is an indirect form of power . It is essentially getting others to want what you want (p . 9 . Soft power according to Nye rests in part on "intangible power resources ' such as culture and national ideology (p . 9 . Soft power is manifested when other countries start admiring its values emulating its example , aspiring to its level of prosperity and openness (p . 8 ) A country has soft power when it can create political agenda that affects the preferences of other countries to its advantage (p . 9 ) Nye believes that if current economic and social trends continue soft power will become the most important form of power (p . 12

Nye adds that hard and soft power are related and can reinforce each other ' - a country suffering from a decline of hard power will lose its attractiveness , and a country with strong hard power may be viewed as attractive by other countries (p . 10 . However , hard power and soft power are not strictly corresponsive . As an example , Nye points to the Vatican , which retained its soft power even after it lost its Papal States , and to the Soviet Union , which lost much of its soft power after invading Hungary and Czechoslovakia (p . 10

America as the hyperpower

Nye claims that the United States has the greatest soft power resources in the world (p . 40 . Despite the misgivings of some , Nye 's opinion is that the United States will have a second century of even greater preeminence , pointing to the leadership of the United States in the global information revolution ' which he believes will lead to another industrial revolution (p . 3 . According to Nye , no country is better endowed than the United States in [the] three dimensions [of power] - military , economic , and soft (p . 12 . He claims that the strength of the U .S . rests partly on soft power , citing reasons such as the fact that the United States is the number one film and television exporter in the world , and that the U .S . also attracts the...